Family
by Mazamba
Summary: Nudge has always wanted to find her family, what will happen when she meets what's left of it? Maximum Ride and Fledgling: A Novel crossover. Rated T for Eraser blood. Slight loli. On hold until rewrite.
1. Chapter 1 STALKER

Family

CH 1. STALKER

Nudge was bored. No, scratch that, she was beyond bored. She was bored beyond tears, beyond yawns, and she had actually been trudging between classes. Trudging! She didn't even know that people trudged anymore, never mind what trudging actually was.

Since coming to the school she's been forced to sit through another algebra session and felt like she was about to melt through the floor if she stayed much longer.

"_When exactly am I going to need to know how to make a U on a graph?" _ She thought miserably as she sank her face into her book for a nap, _"Like a runaway mutant's gonna get into Harvard."_

"Krystal!" Yelled Mr. Simmons, waking her up with a start. "Could you solve number 28 for us since you have obviously reached a level of expertise that allows you to gaze out the window like a dying guppy."

"Number 28, right," she muttered as she thought _"guppy?"_

She then looked at her textbook and frowned, "Um, fifteen?"

The class chuckled at her shy and erroneous response. Mr. Simmons, however, was not pleased.

"If you do not know the subject, then please pay attention!" He scolded her.

"Sorry, Mr. Simmons," Nudge pleaded, "won't happen again."

The teacher merely turned around with a humph and went back to explaining how to find the vertex.

"_I wanna go out for a flight…"_

* * *

"I still don't see why you want to do this," muttered Wright as he pulled up at the large building, "Why don't you just study with the Gordons?"

"We are imposing on the Gordons as it is," said a little girl's voice behind him, "Preston says that the youngest can barely handle the sight of me at this point, much less my scent."

"Can't really blame them," smirked the 23-year-old man as he opened the door for her, "you lured me in, remember?"

He stood back to let a parasol poke out of the car, as it snapped open, a young girl stepped outside.

"You talk like that's a bad thing," she retorted, Wright leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, "you might want to stop before a policeman sees you."

"They think I'm your brother," he stated, but drew back just the same.

"How'd they buy that?" asked the girl as they stepped into the reception hall.

"No clue," he admitted, "Josef looks more like you than I do."

"True," said the child, thinking of her brown-skinned lover, "but he's darker than me."

"At least you share an ethnic background."

Wright walked up to the receptionist.

"Name?" asked the secretary in a bored tone, the name on her desk read Mrs. Stone.

"Wright Hamlin," he stated.

"The girl's name?" Mrs. Stone clarified with an irritated tone.

"Shori," stated the girl, "Shori Matthews."

* * *

"Class," Stated Ms. Morris, "we have a new student today."

The class started buzzing in anticipation. That would make two new students that they would get out of the blue. Nudge was interested as well.

"Come on in," called the teacher, in stepped an eleven year old girl with short black hair and light brown skin. She stood at four feet with eight inches and was wearing blue jeans, a blue long sleeved shirt, and a pair of sneakers. The whole thing went surprisingly well with the plain brown parasol she held in her left hand and the dark sunglasses that covered most of her face.

"Good afternoon," she said politely with a slight bow, "my name is Shori Matthews."

"Shori, would you mind taking these off?" asked the teacher, pointing towards the sunglasses.

"She's hyper photosensitive," stated a tall, muscular man with brown hair, "she can take off the sunglasses if you shut the drapes."

"Oh, uh, sure," stuttered Ms. Morris, "Krystal, do you mind? You're closest."

"No prob," Nudge stated, she pulled on the cord next to her until the sky had been covered.

"Thank you," stated the girl, Shori, with a smile. She turned to look at the class and froze at the sight of Nudge. She stared at her for a few seconds before she spoke again, "but it's still too bright, is it all right if I keep them on?"

"Um, alright," said the teacher with a look of confusion. She looked at the brunet for answers, he just shrugged.

"It's worse on some days," he stated.

The teacher nodded in understanding.

"May I sit there?" asked Shori, pointing at a seat in the back, "least light."

"Sure," said the teacher.

"All right, later Shori. Play nice." Said the brunet as he tussled her hair short hair, much to her discontent if her flailing hands were any indication. The man left and the girl turned back to the anxious class.

"All right class, you have ten minutes to get to know miss Matthews before we go back to my lesson. Or at least, before we return to our old routine of me dictating knowledge that you will regret sleeping through in a few weeks."

At once, the barrage started.

"How tall are you?"

"Where are you from?"

"How much do you weigh?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Was that your boyfriend?"

"What's your bra size?"

The classroom turned silent upon the last question before Mr. Simmons dragged a stocky boy out of the classroom. Once he left, she turned back to the class with a smile.

"Let's see, in that order. I'm four feet tall with eight inches. I'm from Seattle but I lived in California up until we had to move due to my condition. I really don't know, never took the time to step near the scales. Red. I like to think he is… just kidding! He's my brother. And do I even _look_ like I wear a bra?"She replied with a hand on her flat chest as Mr. Simmons came back in, just in time to hear that final answer.

"Oookay then, that's enough time for questions," he said nervously as the class groaned and protested about cutting the time short, "Shori, take your seat."

"Gladly."

As Shori walked towards Nudge, she couldn't help but shiver. Even through the sunglasses, it was obvious that the girl was staring at her. As she passed, Nudge noticed that her chest puffed up as she inhaled.

"_Did she just…?"_

* * *

"She _sniffed_ you?" asked Max incredulously.

"Scout's honor," replied Nudge solemnly with a hand in the air and the other over her heart, "then she spent the rest of the class staring at me like something was gonna crawl out of my back!"

"Uh, Nudge?" cut in Iggy, softly reminding her that she _did_ have something on her back.

"I KNOW! That's what freaks me out!" she shouted, "What if she's an Eraser? What if she knows what we are? What if she works for the school! What if-!"

"All right, calm down!" Max yelled over her, "Fang? Copper coin for your cerebral activity?"

"We should keep an eye on her," he replied with a slight twitch on his right eye at her bad joke, "if she tries anything, we can just fly out."

"Actually, I was thinking that we should leave soon anyways," countered Max, only to wince at the crestfallen expressions of the three youngest members.

"WHAT!" started Angel.

"We can't leave NOW!" continued the Gasman.

"It's almost Thanksgiving!" finished Nudge.

"Wha-? For the love of-! What's more important to you three? Turkey or our safety?"

"TURKEY!" replied the three with no hesitation whatsoever.

"Our safety get's threatened plenty anyways," pointed out Iggy, "What? It's true!"

"I'm glaring at you!" clarified Max before sighing in defeat, "look, if this kid is dangerous then she could get at Anne to catch us. Do you three want that?"

"No," the three said dejectedly in unison.

"Thought so, this was never going to be permanent anyways," stated their feathered leader, only to wince at their shocked faces, "wait, did you three think-?"

"We're not gonna stay?" asked Gazzy.

"We have to keep moving," said Fang.

"I thought you three knew that by now?" said Max.

"Well, yeah…" muttered Angel.

"Doesn't mean we have to like it…" continued Nudge with a sad pout.

Max felt a pull at her heartstrings. They never chose this life but were still forced to keep moving. Never slowing down more than a few days. Never truly stopping. Always looking over their winged backs. She was used to it by now, but sometimes… Max just wanted to stop. To stop running. To settle down somewhere they could simply live peacefully.

"Too much to ask I guess…" she muttered her conclusion.

"Huh?" inquired Angel with an (adorable) tilt.

"Nothing," she replied fighting down a blush, "anyways, for now we'll just keep an eye out for her. One warning and we fly. Agreed?"

"Agreed," responded her flock with a nod. Well, most of her flock, "Fang?"

"Shush!" he snapped.

"Pardon?"

"I think we're being watched," he replied sternly, he looked towards an alley between the cafeteria and the gym where a glint could be made out.

"Stay," she replied as she stood.

She walked over to the alley, slowing down in caution as she got closer. She caught the sound of a metallic object crashing to the ground when she was about ten feet away, putting her on edge. As she approached, she mildly noted that the sound had summoned Fang who was now winging her right side.

They didn't know what to expect as they turned the corner, but it certainly wasn't a petite, dark skinned girl with bug-like sunglasses sitting on an iron bench with a lunch box. She was in the process of opening the tin box when she noted that she was no longer alone.

"Can I help you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" asked Max, feeling rather stupid.

"Eating," she replied as she took out a banana.

"Why here?" asked Fang.

"Light," she said simply, "it hurts my eyes."

"_This must be Shori," _concluded Max and Fang simultaneously.

"What was that noise?" asked Fang.

"Kicked the can," she stated, pointing at a metal trash can with an indentation on the side, "since we're playing twenty questions, who are you two?"

"I'm Max and he's Nick."

She seemed to deliberate on what Max said for a second before replying.

"I'm Shori Matthews, nice to meet you," she said with a curt nod, "where are you two from?"

"Seattle," said Fang.

"Really? Me too!" she replied, putting her lunch box on the side as she readied herself for a long chat, "my brother Wright went to Seattle University for a while but he dropped out and became a construction worker."

"Really? That's interesting." Said Max, but in truth her thoughts were closer to, _"Who gives a flying feather!"_

"He's happier like this though," continued Shori, "he always said he didn't like where he was headed or even if he knew where he was headed."

"What did he study?" asked Fang.

Shori only frowned and appeared to look up in thought, "what was it again?"

Fang's ever-present scowl deepened for some reason as he took in the petite girl in front of him. He seemed to be looking at the chair that she was sitting on more than he did the girl.

"Well then, sorry for bothering you," said Max, "c'mon Nick."

"Later guys, say hi to Krystal for me!" replied the photophobe as she bit down on a banana from her lunch box.

"Yeah, sure," replied Max.

Once they were out of earshot, Fang pointed out something her saw.

"The floor was cracked."

"Pardon?"

"The floor under the bench was cracked," he clarified, "like something heavy fell on it."

"That bench must have been at least 200 pounds," Max scoffed, "even we can't lift that much for long."

"The bench had bolt on the feet," continued Fang, ignoring his companion, "but none of them were in the ground."

"So she ripped a 200 pound bench off the ground?" asked Max skeptically, "Fang, you do realize what you're saying right?"

"Yes, but stranger things have crawled out of the School."

He had her there. It took them some time to realize a small discrepancy.

"How did she know we knew Nudge?" asked Fang.

* * *

As soon as the two children left, Shori made a beeline for the garbage can to spit out the foul object that she had placed into her mouth.

"How do they handle this junk?" she spat as the last of the banana left her mouth. She'd need to brush her teeth later.

"Guess I slipped up though," she moaned as she heard Fang from around the corner, "still, Nudge somehow suits her better than Krystal."

Her thoughts went astray as she remembered the girl that sat on the row in front of hers. She had decided to enroll to this school in an effort to understand her heritage a bit better. She certainly wasn't expecting something like this though.

"Why does she smell like feathers though?"

* * *

Finally! The long awaited re-write of Family is here! those that read the original story will notice that there is little difference between the original first chapter and the new one. The reason is that there was little wrong with the original chapter. I only needed to re-make the chapter for it to go in a new direction.

To new readers, I just want to get out there that Shori and her companions are not original characters, they're based from the book Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler, a surprisingly unpopular book that the absolute best I've ever read.

Anyways, the next few chapters have already been written and will be posted promptly.


	2. Chapter 2 LURK

Family

CH 2. LURK

Angel is not a person that is well known for being reckless. As part of a flock, she generally followed the unspoken avian rule of "birds of a feather stick together" that apparently applied to genetically engineered, mutant bird kids. However, she was willing to blame this solo mission on her relation to brother.

The Flock had discussed the reasons that Shori could have taken an interest in Nudge but nothing had really seemed to fit. Gazzy insisted that she was a new type of Eraser, Fang was silent as usual, Max served mainly as a mediator, and Nudge was silently freaking out. The mere fact that she had managed to be quiet for more than a minute made that evident.

The most interesting theory had been Iggy's proposal that Shori had a crush on Nudge. This had been followed by a confused look from Nudge followed by Max shooting him a glare that could have frozen beer, not that he could tell. Angel had been confused as well until she decided to peek into his mind to find a sonic memory (duh) of a website Iggy had found. She then made a point of keeping out of his head for the next few days or at least until she stopped blushing.

She had, of course, tried to read her thoughts at first, but was frustrated by the fuzzy images that had become the fruits of her labor. Her mind was like a human's but both more advanced and more primitive in parts. Angel then came to the conclusion that she needed to get closer to get a clear reading.

Frustrated by the lack of information, Angel had decided to tail the odd girl that had taken an interest in her best friend, but was having a hard time doing so. She obviously favored the darker spots of the school, making it slightly more difficult to follow her, but she was also fast and often disappeared once Angel turned a corner. She had just turned into a corner to find a dead end when she figured it out. Shori knew she was being followed.

Looking up, she noticed that one of the ceiling tiles had been moved to allow access to the maintenance ducts. She quickly turned to run when who should jump down from the ceiling but her own quarry.

"Why are you following me?" she asked coldly.

Angel only moved to a defensive stance and prepped her wings should she need to fight her way out. It wouldn't be too difficult to fight her off if she was human, if she was an eraser though she could be in trouble.

"I asked you a question," she continued, obviously irritated, "I do not wish to do this to one of your size, but you are not giving me much choice."

Angel only scowled in response, though Shori actually thought that made her look cuter. She strengthened her grip on her bag and rapidly raised her to hit the mocha-skinned girl's face. The offender in turn, only grabbed the bag and launched herself forward. Angel snapped her wings open but Shori was upon her faster than she had expected. A deceivingly strong arm wrapped itself around her and pinned her wings to her own back. Angel was about to scream for help when Shori's head dove for her throat as she lifted the winged girl. She felt two pinpricks of pain before what was likely the least thing that she expected happened.

She moaned.

She surrendered herself into the bite as a pleasure foreign to her racked her whole body. She should be disgusted she knew. She should stop her. She should at least want her to stop. But she didn't. Her mind was fogged by the pleasure that the taller girl was giving her.

A century could have passed by the time that Shori unlatched her canines from Angel's throat. The smaller girl whimpered and tried to follow with her neck to find the pleasure that had become her entire world in a few moments.

"Not right now little one," whispered Shori into her ear, the warm sound making her limbs tingle, "I have a few questions, and you have answers."

* * *

"Where the hell is she?" growled Max angrily, "she should be here by now!"

"Calm down Max, she probably got hung up somewhere," said Iggy, waving off her fears. Their experience at the School had obviously taken its toll on them, but Max also had what Iggy liked to call Mother Goose syndrome which made for an occasionally annoying combination.

"I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about what hung her up!"

School had ended a few minutes ago and they had met up at the front as they had agreed. Well, most of them had. Angel had yet to arrive and had not sent them any telepathic messages to indicate otherwise.

"I'm here!" came Angel's yell, "sorry, the teacher had some questions for me."

Iggy turned his head at Angel sharply, unbeknownst to Max who only sighed in relief.

"That's ok, just try to give us a warning next time," sighed Max.

As the lot of them prepared to leave, Iggy could only ponder the slight waver he had noticed in Angel's voice.

"_Why did she lie?"_

As the group chatted, none of them noticed the figure of a tall man approach Nudge and hold a long, brown object above her.

* * *

Rather short but interesting. Angel's reaction was a lot... sexier than I intended but it fits with the original book. Look forward to the next chapter!

Reviews are appreciated but not demanded, its not like I'm updating for you guys anyways.


	3. Chapter 3 PREDATOR

Family

CH 3. PREDATOR

Nudge flinched as a shadow loomed over her, she was about to turn around when a hand pulled her back from her forehead.

"What are you doing out in the sun?" asked the figure as she opened a collapsible umbrella.

"Uhhh," stuttered Nudge, "do I know you?"

"Yeah, real funny," chuckled the brown-skinned woman, "c'mon, let's go home!"

"Home, where?" asked Max, cautiously.

"Hey, you made friends!" she exclaimed, "Nice to meet you, my name is-,"

"Celia!" yelled a familiar voice to the left; the twenty-something woman turned towards the source, and stared. Then she turned to Nudge, then to Shori, then back to Nudge, mouth gaping like a fish the whole time.

"What-Shori-then who?" gaped Celia.

"I see you met Krystal," she stated, "and noticed an interesting tidbit."

"How'd you-? She looks-,"

"Later," she said, then she turned towards Nudge, "Good bye, nice meeting you!"

"What just happened?" asked the Gasman, looking at his sister for clues. Angel just shrugged in response.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Exclaimed Celia as he settled down in the car, a bit too loudly for Shori's ears.

"Her real name is Nudge."

"Odd name- No wait, that's not the point!"

"I know," acknowledged Shori, "but my curiosity has been peaked by her and her family. Much has happened."

"Who? The rest of the model kids?"

"Model?"

"They look like models," explained Celia, "or actors, or whatever."

"Well, either way, I wish to ascertain myself of something," she caught a glint in the bushes on a hill near the school and her powerful eyes grew wide as she noticed that it came from a set of binoculars trained on Nudge and her family.

"Celia."

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind if I walked home from now on?"

"What? On your own?" she asked, Wright would not happy with the idea of letting their companion alone, "I don't know…"

"You may have Wright follow if you wish," suggested Shori, "you may even have him bring his gun if it makes you feel safer."

"What's going on Shori?" she knew her well enough to know that something was bothering the young girl, even if she tried not to show it. No, especially when she tried not to show it.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "It's probably nothing, but I'd like to get to know Nudge better."

"You want to walk home with them?" she asked, "you know, they're too young to-,"

"That's not what I have in mind," interrupted the girl, "I just want to be near them."

It was obvious that Celia didn't like the idea, but she knew that she'd let her in the end. She didn't want to 'pull rank on them' as her companions called it, but she would if she had to. She had to do this.

"Wright will follow you," she said, "I'd rather not leave you alone for too long, not under the sun."

Shori smiled, she couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

"So what's your take?" asked Fang once they got back home. Anne had to go back to her office and had left them some dinner, fish sticks to be exact.

"We're missing something," stated Max as she got a soda from the fridge, "something important."

She looked over at Nudge on the loveseat next to Iggy; it was odd not to have her talk people's ears off and actually stay quiet for a change.

"Why did she confuse me for her?" She suddenly asked.

"Who?" asked Angel, she was lying down on the couch, "Celia?"

"Yeah, the woman," confirmed Nudge, "she just assumed I was her, why?"

"You look a little alike," stated Gazzy, "you're a bit taller though."

"Maybe we should just ask her," suggested Angel, "Celia wasn't suspicious, and Shori doesn't seem like a bad person either."

"You didn't even get an accurate reading off her," Fang reminded her as he pushed her legs off the couch to sit down, "you even said she didn't feel human."

"I said she felt like a human," Angle corrected him, "she could just be wired a little differently, like us."

"Yeah, THAT'S comforting," scoffed Iggy, "another mutant, perfect."

"Look, we'll just keep an eye out for her tomorrow, and then we'll see what happens," said Max to calm down her Flock.

"WOULD SOMEONE LET ME IN ALREADY!"

"Oh, sorry Total," called Angel as she rushed to the backyard to let their tiny dog in.

"About time!" yelled the Scottie, "you have any idea how- _YIPE_!"

The whole flock started at Total's fearful yelp and leapt to their feet expecting the worst.

"Wait! Total? Total what's wrong?" came Angel's voice as the Scottie ran in with his tail between his legs.

"Something's not right," whispered the dog, "she smells weird."

"What?" sputtered Max, "weird how?"

"You ever looked at a lion in the face?" he asked, "You know that weird feeling where you know you're totally outmatched and you know you're gonna get eaten and there ain't nothing you can do about it?"

Max nodded, she and her family knew that feeling all too well.

"That's how she smells," he whispered back, "like she was right next to something that could tear you apart in one swipe. Angel smells like a predator!"

* * *

Once again, pretty short and I'm pretty sure that you guys already figured out what she is.


	4. Chapter 4 PARASOL

Family

CH 4. PARASOL

The next day, their suspicions had not ceased. The Flock had done their best to keep a close eye on Shori but the petite girl had proven to be as elusive as she was mysterious. Max was constantly on edge and Nudge was gradually being reduced to a stressed bundle of nerves.

Total's claim did not bode well either. Being a dog, his sense of smell was superior to even Iggy's so the rest of the Flock had to physically restrain Max from flying out of the room to hunt their quarry down. Angel claimed that she had never approached or been approached by Shori, confusing Max further.

"She's lying," Iggy had stated later that night after the hatchlings had fallen asleep, "I don't know why but I've known her long enough to recognize a lie when she says it."

That single sentence had Max reeling. What reason would Angel have to lie to them about something this important?

"What are we missing?" she ground out as she kicked her head against the tree behind her, the flock was back in the school yard and had taken advantage of Angel's bathroom break to discuss her odd behavior, "Angel's lying, Nudge has a stalker, Total won't touch her with a 19 and a half foot pole, and that Shori kid is somehow in the middle of it."

"I still say she has a crush on Nudge," proposed Iggy in an effort to lighten things up only to receive an empty soda can to the face.

"But we're both girls," said Nudge with a confused expression.

"Ah you see Nudge-,"

"Finish that sentence and I will plug your nose with garlic," hissed Max.

"You'll find out when you're older," finished their blind comrade, shuddering in fear of the pungent spice, "maybe even first hand."

"Iggy," warned Fang, "stop corrupting the children of the world."

"Shutting up."

"I'm not a kid!" protested Nudge, "if anything I'm a teen."

"Tween," corrected Iggy, "which is practically a kid."

"Back to the actual subject," cut in Max with an irritated tone, "I honestly think that it's time to leave."

"We should explain things to Anne first," pointed out Fang, "she might… misunderstand otherwise."

A vivid mental image of the blonde agent rushing the school with guns blazing passed through their heads rapidly before being replaced by an image of Anne lying depressed on her sofa, mourning their sudden disappearance.

"Yeah, that would be best," agreed Max with a grim look, "who gets to tell Angel?"

"Tell me what?" asked the aforementioned blonde, having returned from the bathroom.

"We need to leave tonight," said Max, "it's too risky at this point."

"What!" yelled Angel with an alarmed look, "Nonononono! I like it here!"

"Angel, be reasonable," said Max as she put her arms on the little girl's shoulders, "something's up and that Shori kid is smack dab in the middle of it. We can't take any more risks."

"But I like it here!" she protested, "I don't want to leave!"

Suddenly, the young girl, mature beyond her years, looked every bit the six year old child she was. She looked terrified at the prospect of leaving the place she called home.

But at the same time, that wasn't quite it. Angel was notorious among them for being the most logical person of the group, with few exceptions such as Total or her bear Celeste. Yet this time, she looked conflicted. Even more so than the time they went to that ice cream and she was trying to choose between chocolate fudge and rocky road, and that was saying something.

_"What's going on Angel?"_ wondered Max.

***Line Break***

After school ended, Max had been disappointed to find that Angel refused to see reason. Regardless of the argument, reason, or excuse that she gave, the white feathered girl refused to accept the mere notion of departing.

They were walking back home at that point on the road with a forest to the left. Though they sorely wished to take flight, an unexpected element prevented them from doing so. Shori was walking not ten meters behind them, holding on to her parasol as her insect-like sunglasses glinted in the light.

They didn't know whether she was following them or was merely walking the same way, but the fact that she was so close didn't sit well with any of them with the possible exception of Angel.

The road was dreadfully empty, save for the occasional sedan and the black Hummer behind them, so she might actually try something. Still they had her outnumbered, so they could probably walk away from whatever she had planned.

"Black Hummer at 6 o'clock!" yelled Nudge as she leapt out of the way of the oversized vehicle. The doors opened, and six armed supermodels poured out.

"Figures," muttered Max as one the lead pointed an M16 at her.

"The one time we had to be wrong," replied Fang as his wings snapped open.

He lunged forward, tackling the lead and knocking the bullet off course. Max took this chance to knock the one next to him down as he took out a pistol. She punched a third one in the face, smirking as the bone snapped, only for a fourth to nail her in the gut. She resisted the urge to double over and struck him across the face as hard as she could.

"Put the gun in your mouth," said Angel as she stared at the fifth Eraser. The sixth Eraser saw this as he fended off Nudge and Gazzy and pointed a gun at the small girl. Max barely had the time to yell out a warning before a brown blur flew across her view to slam into the Eraser's arm. The gun fired uselessly into the air and the Eraser yelled in rage. Angel, having lost focus on her target, was then slammed into the ground by her would-be victim.

"Angel!" cried Max before the first Eraser hit her on the side of the head, stunning her long enough to receive a second punch to the stomach. He then slammed her face against her knee before kicking her away to the corner where they had put the rest of her family.

She counted her own broken nose and possibly cracked ribs, a split lip on Fang and a nasty bruise on his cheek, the Gasman had a black eye and what appeared to be a bite mark on his arm, Nudge was missing a small tuft of hair and her ear was bleeding where she had been hit by the butt of a rifle, and Angel sported a long gash on her upper left arm.

"What hit you?" asked one of the Erasers to the one that had tried to shoot Angel.

"This," he replied with what appeared to be an umbrella on his hand.

"Has anyone seen my parasol?" asked a voice to the left. Shori stood there some twenty meters away, apparently unaffected by the sight of six heavily armed, half-formed werewolves.

"Oh dear," was all she sad before running into the forest.

"No witnesses," said the leader.

"I'll shove this down her throat," growled the Eraser holding the umbrella before he ran into the forest after her, transforming on the way in.

"Shit!" growled Max. They were wrong. Shori was just some kid that had managed to get dragged into this mess. Even if they managed to escape, she was probably already dead.

"You do know that this didn't have to happen?" mocked the first Eraser, "all you had to do was come quietly and the brat would be fine."

The sounds of a snarling wolf kept echoing through the forest reaching them before he reached the doomed girl.

"Now she's a snack," continued the Eraser, ignoring Max's glare. The growling kept echoing.

"You'd have killed her anyways," defended Iggy, drowning out the growling, "no witnesses."

"True," replied the lead, "but-,"

The growling sound from the forest was suddenly cut off by a sound similar to that of an injured dog's, making the Flock look up sharply. They waited for the Eraser to call out again with baited breath, only to receive silence instead.

"Go get him," said the lead to the Eraser next to him. He transformed into his lupine form and walked in with a tight hand on his gun. He walked in a few meters before a figure rushed in from the darkness and threw him back, landing next to Iggy.

They all stared. On top of the writhing Eraser was the one that had chased after Shori. He wasn't moving and simply fell limply as the other Erasers moved him, guns trained on the Flock the entire time. When he was rolled over and the Eraser standing, the assassins stared at the object that was lodged into the dead Eraser's chest.

"A parasol?" whispered Nudge.

"Where's his knife?" asked the Eraser that had been tackled by the corpse.

It was then that Shori dashed out of the forest to land on his shoulders, knocking him of balance and slashing his throat in a single motion. She was upon the second Eraser before the first hit the ground, leaping under him to slash at his heels and imbed the blade into the back of his skull. The third Eraser fell when she leapt of her previous victim and grabbed onto his head, using her momentum to snap his neck. The fourth pseudo-werewolf tried to repel her with a burst of bullets, but her speed was more than a match for his slow reflexes and the M16's burst shots. A single bullet skimmed past her face, destroying her sunglasses, before she tackled him and bit down on his throat, ripping it out as her head came away.

With only one adversary left, she turned to him and spat out the piece she had ripped out of her writhing victim. Her gold eyes met his and he shuddered. Having witnessed this diminutive assassin's work was bad enough, but the humanoid wolf also felt a primordial fear upon meeting her gaze. It was the gaze of a being that saw you as little more than an annoying insect that needed to be crushed. The smell of urine filled the air as he felt fear for the first and final time of his life.

Having lost his weapons in the battle against the bird-kids, the man transformed, lunging at her throat in a final act of desperation. The girl merely waited until he was close enough before raising her arms to catch the creature's wrists. He could only whine in fear as the much smaller girl over powered him, forcing him down by using his arms as levers.

"Harming the children was a mistake," hissed Shori Matthews in his face, baring a sharp set of fangs and spitting his comrade's blood in his face.

With a feral growl, the Eraser tried to bite at her only to hear bones snap as she crushed his arms. He screamed out in pain and rage as his useless arms flailed limply. He reared back one last time before a gunshot sounded off, blowing off half of his head.

Shori turned to greet her companion, Wright Hamlin. He was wearing one of his normal flannel shirts and was holding a smoking rifle aimed over a black sedan. He wore an expression that could only be described as "freaked out" as he approached, rifle trained on the fallen beast the whole time.

"Took you long enough," retorted Shori.

"There was a blockade up the road," he replied, "what the hell is this thing? I knew you guys existed, wasn't expecting werewolves though."

"It's not a werewolf," she replied, "Angel called it an Eraser."

"What!" came a yell from Max, and for the first time Wright noticed the odd kids cowering in the woods. One could call them anything but cowards, but considering that this kid had taken thirty seconds to take down creatures that had been giving them a beating for the last five minutes they had reason to be wary.

"Maximum Ride I presume?" asked Shori as she slowly turned around, "I suppose you have questions, as do I."

"The hell I have questions! What-!" she paused in shock. During the entire fight, no one had gotten a clear look at her face. Now it made sense, between the dark skin, black hair, pouty lips, and high cheekbones Shori looked just like-.

"Nudge?"

What she said.

* * *

To those that have actually read Fledgeling, I'll admit that I might have overdone it with the figth scene. However, I should point out that we never see Shori face several oponents at once, usually she just ambushes them which is not possible with that setting.


End file.
